5Winners Batsmen to Watch in the Indian Premier League

By Will Davies

The Indian Premier League is filled with the most exciting cricketers on the planet, so it seems unfair to whittle down to a tiny list of batsmen that excludes players such as India’s captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and South African A.B. de Villiers.

But we’re doing it anyway.

Here are five top-class batsmen definitely worth keeping a close eye on during the IPL, which runs from April 16 until June 1. Expect big innings from all of them, and a few wickets, too, as they are useful bowlers.

15 Apr 2014 9:33pm

1Kevin Pietersen

KP was born and raised in South Africa but went on to play for England and become the country’s most prolific run-scorer. The 33-year-old, who stands at 6 feet 4 inches tall, no longer plays for England and so will be able to fully focus on playing for the Delhi Daredevils throughout the IPL. He is captain of the team, which is coached by South African Gary Kirsten, who was in charge of India when it won the 2011 World Cup.

2Glenn Maxwell

Eyebrows were raised last year when the Australian was the only million-dollar buy in the 2013 IPL auction. He only played three matches for the Mumbai Indians in the IPL and was this year bought by Kings XI Punjab. The 25-year-old is a fantastic striker of the ball and racks up runs quick-time from the upper-middle order with an array of inventive shots that are perfectly suited to Twenty20 cricket.

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3Virat Kohli

Consistently one of the best batsmen in the world in recent years in all forms of cricket, India’s Kohli is in typically good form coming into this IPL. He was named player of the tournament in the recent World T20 in Bangladesh after outscoring everyone by a mile. The 25-year-old, who according to the International Cricket Council is the world’s second-best T20 batsman after Aaron Finch, captains the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

4Chris Gayle

A genuine superstar of T20 cricket who always seems to save his best for the IPL, Gayle can hit the ball 100 meters over a bowler’s head with what looks like the slightest flick. In the last three IPL seasons, the Jamaican scored 154 sixes. The big left-hander was the league’s top run-scorer in 2011 and 2012 and was second in 2013, when he broke the record for the biggest IPL innings, scoring 175 not out from 66 balls for the Royal Challengers Bangalore against the Pune Warriors.

5Corey Anderson

While the others on this list are seasoned IPL professionals, Anderson is new to the tournament. The New Zealander was keenly pursued at this year’s auction after breaking the world record for the fastest one-day international century, which he got in 36 balls in a match against the West Indies. He has only played seven T20 international innings and hasn’t scored more than 20. The Mumbai Indians, winner of the IPL last year, believe he is worth a bet though, paying 45 million rupees (about $750,000) for the 23-year-old.